BET Africa has attempted to rectify the Toll A$$ Mo saga that took place a few weeks ago, by promoting their all-female line-up. In a promotional post from the channel on Wednesday, 9 September 2020, some of the guests who will feature on season four of the show were announced. These included Shauwn Mkhize, Khanyi Mbau, Moonchild Sanelly, Rami Chuene and Nthati Moshesh. The post also stated that a longer list of leading ladies is still to come, indicating that the new season will comprise an all-female line-up.
Read Next: Pearl Thusi Defends Herself Amid Twitter Storm
Behind The Story’s host, Pearl Thusi, had come under fire in late August 2020, after she was accused of supporting alleged rapist, Toll A$$ Mo. The presenter had informed viewers that the former comedian would be appearing as one her first guests, and asked them to submit questions for her to ask him.
Tweeps immediately began lambasting the show for giving Toll A$$ Mo a platform for self-promotion, despite being accusing of sexually assaulting model and actress, Lerato Moloi. Many called out BET Africa for their clear misdemeanour and also question them on if they had tackled the subject matter, or if they were merely talk about the ex-comedian’s marriage and career.
Following the social media uproar, BET Africa made things worse by “acknowledging” the allegations levelled against Toll Ass Mo, and suggested that they would air the episode, and wanted to give Lerato (the alleged sexual assault survivor) an opportunity to respond on the same platform.
Their response did not sit well with many, and caused for Tweeps to drag Pearl Thusi into the saga. Many accused the channel and Pearl for using a rape-story as a publicity stunt for the show, and threatened to boycott Behind The Story if the episode continued to air.
Thereafter, in a turn of events, the channel confirmed that interview will not be aired “out of respect for the current environment, legal proceedings and the basis of impartiality.” The promotion of the all-female line-up appears to be the channel’s way of redeeming themselves falling the entire incident.